Young people are having a lot less sex than you think – and men are particularly wrong about the sex lives of young women. People are not honest about their number of sexual partners – and American men think American women have an incredibly high number of partners.

Across all 38 countries in the 2017 study, we still see each population getting a lot wrong. People are most inaccurate about figures such as the murder rate and the number of people who die from terrorist attacks each year, but in this new study we also show that we’re often unduly pessimistic about how healthy people are, as well as overestimating how connected they are to technology.

Across all 40 countries in the 2016 study, each population gets a lot wrong, such as the proportion of our population that are Muslims and wealth inequality. We also show that we’re often unduly pessimistic about how happy people are and our tolerance on controversial issues such as homosexuality, sex before marriage and abortion.

Across all 33 countries in the study, each population gets a lot wrong. People are often most incorrect on factors that are widely discussed in the media or highlighted as challenges facing societies, such as the proportion of young adults still living at home, immigration and wealth inequality.

In 2014 Ipsos MORI and King's College London released an international survey that highlighted what the public in Britain, the US, France, Australia and Canada get right and wrong about the military and the armed forces.

A 2014 Ipsos study showed significant misperceptions about personal and public finances. In particular, the cost of the big life events ­ like having children, going to university and retiring ­ that people underestimate which has implications for the financial services industry and government alike, as well as the wellbeing of the general population.

In 2013 Ipsos MORI released the first in a series of studies on the Perils of Perception. Working in conjunction with the Royal Statistical Society and King¹s College London Ipsos aimed to highlight how wrong the British public can be on the make-up of the population and the scale of key social policy issues.

People significantly underestimate how much tax revenue comes from businesses, a poll conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) finds. On average the public think only 17% of total tax revenue is provided by business. In fact, in 2014, business paid nearly £175 billion in tax – 29% of all taxes.